Hey! I'm new at this too, but I started with wix, then wordpress, and then finally wound up with squarespace and I'm never leaving. They are so classy, new, and easy, plus they aren't terribly expensive, and their online chat help rocks. I'd give them a look!

If you need something more than a set of static pages, you should start off with a CMS as this will make your life a lot easier in the long run. I would recommend WordPress as it is easy enough to use, and the learning curve isn't quite as huge as other systems.

There's a huge range of things that could possibly influence what you end up using, so it's very very hard to say what you will definitely need without knowing exactly how you want it to end up.

If you end up trying to learn to write clean straight scripting, most my friends and I have either ended up using PSPad (my pref) or Notepad++.

He who knows not that he knows not is a fool, ignore him. He who knows that he knows not is ignorant, teach him. He who knows not that he knows is asleep, awaken him. He who knows that he knows is a leader, follow him.

Hey! I'm also new on this, but I started with wix, then WordPress, and then finally wound with squarespace and I'm never going to get them pretty, new and easy, plus they are not very expensive, and their Online chat helps the rocks I will give them a look!

First you need to learn a language, If you don't know any language than you can use simply by wordpress because it is great and you can create simple websites with the help of it. But you should also use any code checked so that your coding will be secure.

You can use WordPress to build beautiful websites with rich functionalities. You have already tried and you are not happy with it.
Your problem might be you are unable to make websites exactly the way you want. It is quite difficult to do in the WordPress because you will have to edit the theme files. That is not recommended if you are a beginner.
If you need full control over the design, the best way is to hand code it. You will have to learn at least HTML and CSS.
Using software tools like Dreamweaver is not good. I used while I was learning the web designing but I no longer use it.

I use simple code editors like Atom and Brackets. You will have to completely code the website. You need to know HTML and CSS for this.

My final recommendation is to forget Dreamweaver or similar software and master HTML and CSS and you can design websites the way you want.

Wix is good. They let you drag and drop what you need. If you don't need any advanced features, they should have everything you need. There really is a lot you can do to customize your site and you can be up and running in an afternoon. There are other good ones available too. Search drag and drop free website builder. You'll get many results.